Ranked Showdowns Headline the Big Ten/SEC Volleyball Challenge Week, Capped by a Wrigley Field First

The Big Ten and SEC kicked off their first-ever Volleyball Challenge Week Tuesday, a six-day, conference-wide showcase working by way of Sept. 6 that pairs all 18 Big Ten packages in opposition to all 16 SEC establishments — and closes with ladies’s volleyball’s debut at Wrigley Field.

Most groups play two matches through the week in opposition to Big Ten or SEC opponents at shared campus host websites, whereas 4 SEC packages — Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas — host standalone matches in opposition to Big Ten opponents on the opening days. Tuesday’s opening slate carried a heavy quantity of matches throughout each conferences’ campuses, with the week’s remaining matches main as much as the finale in Chicago.

That finale is a doubleheader on the Cubs’ residence ballpark on Sunday: Nebraska in opposition to Missouri at 6 p.m. CT, adopted by Penn State in opposition to Kentucky at 8 p.m. CT, each on FOX. It marks the primary time volleyball has been performed at Wrigley Field.

Beyond the novelty of the venue, the week options real ranked-versus-ranked competitors, not early-season nonconference filler schedules. Four matchups pit ranked opponents in opposition to one another, utilizing the AVCA Coaches Poll launched after video games by way of Aug. 30: No. 11 Minnesota in opposition to No. 17 Florida on Tuesday at UW Fieldhouse in Madison, Wisconsin; No. 14 Purdue in opposition to No. 12 Texas A&M on Tuesday at Holloway Gymnasium in West Lafayette, Indiana; No. 21 Indiana in opposition to No. 12 Texas A&M on Wednesday, additionally at Holloway Gymnasium; and No. 13 Penn State in opposition to No. 3 Kentucky in Sunday’s Wrigley Field opener. Other ranked groups — No. 22 Tennessee, No. 25 Oregon amongst them — face unranked opponents through the week as measuring-stick video games.

Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey each framed the occasion as an announcement concerning the sport’s progress.

“Big Ten/SEC Volleyball Challenge Week culminating at Wrigley Field brings together the highest level of women’s volleyball competition, at one of the most iconic venues in the country,” Petitti mentioned.

Sankey echoed that framing.

“Bringing the SEC and Big Ten together for a championship-caliber volleyball showcase, culminating at an iconic venue like Wrigley Field, reflects the extraordinary momentum of the sport,” Sankey mentioned.

The week’s matches are unfold throughout seven networks and streaming platforms — FOX, FS1, ESPN, the Big Ten Network, SEC Network, B1G+ and SECN+ — a broadcast footprint that indicators each conferences are treating the occasion as an actual media property quite than a routine scheduling train.

The AVCA ballot used for this week’s rankings predates the Challenge itself, that means Tuesday and Wednesday’s outcomes might shift the ballot earlier than Sunday’s Wrigley Field matches are performed.